


Crooked Sutures.

by imagination_tier



Series: Bendy Draws Studios. [2]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Chapter Length Will Vary, Fluff, Magic, Occasional angst, Slice of Life, humans to toons, i'm still procrastinating garbage, some chapters are in modern times, toons to humans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-22
Updated: 2017-11-21
Packaged: 2019-01-20 22:25:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12443067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imagination_tier/pseuds/imagination_tier
Summary: Things have changed since Boris finally returned to the studio, both for the better and the worst. But honestly, what happened doesn't matter, not really.Here, right now, they are fine. And that all they could ask for.. . .The sequel to Wounds bleeding Black, so you should check that out first or be horribly, horribly lost.





	1. 5 actual rules of Bendy Draws Studios + 1 unwritten law.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I. LIIIIVE!  
> Hiya everybody, welcome to the second part of this poorly thought out venture. Been toying with the beginning for a while, so let jump right in!  
> This chapter takes place in modern times k?

Bendy Draws Studios is hands down the most prestigious animation studio in the world. This is a name the original three that started everything carved out for themselves with years of grueling work, an unflinching attitude towards high-risk projects alongside taking insane leaps of faith, going above and beyond what was expected of them no matter how big or small, and an iron spine that refused to bend to the whims of those that could destroy everything they'd worked for in the snap of a finger.

To join them was the dream of every aspiring artist, whether they worked in animation or voice acting. And this dream had become a reality for one David Wilson, an aspiring voice actor fresh out of school.

He'd heard of the workplace's "eccentricity" of course. The studio was well known for being rather insane to those that didn't understand how things were run. David was positive he would manage. 

But then again, braver men had fallen before him.

. . .

**1\. Beware the Damian family.**

David was running like a madman. It was his first day in the studio without a guide and he'd misplaced his map of the building and didn't remember how he was supposed to get to the recording booth. He really didn't want to make a bad impression on his co-workers, so he sped up and completely knocked over a small, chubby Asian girl.

"Oh God! I'm so sorry miss, here, let me help you up." He carefully pulled her up, mindful of the bottles of ink rolling on the floor.

"Ouch... Well that hurt. Oh no, are any of the bottle broken?!" She dropped to her knees and started to pick them up, pausing only to inspect them for cracks. David immediately followed her lead, shame bubbling in the pit of his stomach over what he'd done.

"You must be one of the newbies, David right? Saw you at the orientation. I'm Rumiko Damian, I'm basically the errand girl. Who's chasing you to make you run like the devil himself is after you?" She cocked her head and waited for his reaction.

"I'm so sorry miss, I wasn't paying attention. Do you, need some help? I'm already late, and it's the least I can do for knocking you over like that." Rumiko blinked and smiled sweetly at him.

"Well, your a voice actor right? I could use someone with your skill set for something. Follow me please, I promise I'll drop you of when I'm done." The two went on their way after she handed him the box she was carrying, Rumiko digging a weathered book out of her pack and skimming through it. Every now and then she'd glance back at him and, smile.

 "RUMIKO!" The tiny Asian froze, a low curse spilling past her lips as she turned to whoever was calling her. A tall black woman was making a beeline straight for her, a furious look on her face.

"Oh hello my most dearest and beautiful cousin Melissa! What brings you-" a black rope materialized around her and dragged her away from David, who was watching all this happen with a confused and dumbfounded expression. 

"For fucks sake Rumiko, leave the newbies alone! Haven't you learned not to mess around with your abilities already?! Judith still sounds like a man when singing after what you did!" Melissa ignored Rumiko's offended squak about Judith not minding and being thrilled at her new voice options and handed the still stunned David a piece of paper.

"Please get to the recording booth. And don't listen to Rumiko, she'll probably have you meowing in morse code if your not careful." With that both of them disappeared straight through the wall, a trail of ink the only indicator of them being there.

Slowly, David put down the box and went on his way. It was probably for the best to pretend all of that was perfectly normal.

. . .

 **2\. Do not touch any of the coffee outside of your department if you value your life.**  

David slowly made his way back to the recording booth, balancing about twelve cups of coffee on a tray. The coffee run was on rotation and it was his turn this week. The usual was already done, and since he didn't want to wait around for the coffeepot to refill he had swung by the animators department to grab some of theirs. Hopefully there wouldn't be any issues.

"I'm back guys!" he called out to the group of voice actors, who looked up from their scripts. Everyone in this room lent their skills to bring the characters of "Saving Grace" to life. In the studio it was common practice for voice actors to work extremely close and feel out each other, in and out of character, to get the best results and necessary chemistry.

"~Thanks you Davey.~" Judith crooned in her deep baritone. It was a bit unsettling to hear such a deep singing voice come from a tiny lady that squeaked instead of talked, but Judith was among the friendliest people in the entire studio and was willing to guide him until he got his bearings. She snatched one of the cups and sniffed at it curiously, a puzzled look forming on her face.

"This doesn't smell right. David, did you get the right stuff?" asked Charlie (voice of the titular Grace).

"Well I got there kinda late, so I snagged some of the animation department's coffee." At his word everyone in the room froze, identical looks of horror etched into their faces. One of the eldest members was staring at the cup in his hand with tears of fear threatening to spill past his cheeks.

"Are you _fucking insane_ David?! What in the name of God's green earth possessed you to bring this vile concoction into our sanctuary?!" Charlie shrieked, trembling ever so slightly.

David watched as everyone agreed, loudly and under their breathes. Did he do something wrong?

Judith went up to David and pulled him down to her eye level. "I am willing to forgive you, since you've only been here very shortly and don't know any better. But there's a reason we get our coffee from the voice actors coffeemaker. There's one person in charge of all the machines of the premise and all of them are specialized. You really don't want to have the witch's brew that the animators live on in your system. It changes mere humans."

"I'll say," said Jacob " you guys remember Tabitha? Sweet thing, but painfully shy. She took one mouthful of that nasty business and next thing we know she goes from voicing one of the meeker kid's show characters to Madame Damocles, voted most badass animated female character in animation!" The older members of the crew nodded, some muttering about 'that crazy sword incident'. 

"The point is," Judith's voice sounded above the murmurs "everyone has gotten used to their departments brand of coffee and you really don't want anyone going though a caffeine withdrawal. _You really, really don't._ "

. . .

**3\. Annoy the animators at one's own risk.**

"The studio's animators," Judith had started after she'd made herself comfortable in Charlie's lap at the dive bar the two had dragged him to "run solely on black tar coffee and the will of Alice Saint herself. The standards they have to meet are insane, so in your best interest not to give them a reason to focus all that pent-up frustration at you." The rest of the night was lost in a haze of alcohol and truly awful movies, but those words stuck out to David as he watched the burning trainwreck unfolding in front of him.

One of the interns was transporting some most likely important documents and had decided to indulge in some harmless flirting with one of the animators. He was definitely not that invested, but the animator simply let the intern blabber about this and that.

Then he somehow managed to short-circuit most, if not all of the equipment in the room (David honestly still doesn't know how the fuck he did it). Angel Joey, one of the advanced animators, who had been busily discussing something with the head animator Benny Saint, froze in place as he realized what had happened and let out a sharp hiss.

"Ummm, whoops? Haha, who left all this junk just lying around?" All the animators turned to look at him with rapidly increasing annoyance. This particular intern had been getting on their collective nerves for a while now, but this was _too far_.

Deciding that he didn't want to be in the splash zone so to speak, David skedaddled as fast as he could. Talking to Benny about Jacob wanting his character to have a slight visual tic could wait until violence wasn't guaranteed to happen. He sped up when he heard the yelling start.

David purposely didn't pay much attention to the rumor mill, but even he'd heard about what the animators had done to the poor schmuck (apparently they'd gotten all the toons involved).

. . . 

**4\. Watch your words around the toons.**

David didn't actually hear much of what had happened since he was on tight schedule, but he slowed down just a touch when he saw Melissa bearing down on Susie Devil Darling, who was managing to keep up a rather convincing show of being innocent. He managed to catch the tail end of the conversation.

"So then you decided that the chimpanzees weren't going to cut it, so you went out and got orangutans!?"

 **"But off course. Everything had to go perfectly after all.** **"**  

"And finally, then you you guys show up with the ten species of monkeys you collected from God knows where and let them loose in the cafeteria!?"

 **"Actually, that was Joey's idea. But don't worry, I managed to make it work."** Melissa's eye twitched as the she-devil's sweet smile lit up. 

"These things always happen, and yet I'm still disappointed." Melissa groaned. 

While David continued on his way to the music department, he couldn't help but be morbidly curious about what the hell had happened and how it started.

. . . 

**5\. Monday is prank day, learn to accept this.**

David's first Monday was a trail by fire. He started on Wednesday and was so busy trying to keep up with more pressing matters that asking for more information about the stranger things that occured at the studio was forgotten. So going to work only to faceplant into an almost literal wall of feathers was immensely confusing, not to mention surreal as fuck. The rest of the day followed the same pattern, stumbling head first into prank after prank until he was tense all over.

Judith and Charlie, the sweethearts, were quick to snatch him and drag him away from the overwhelming commotion. They explained that the toons used to start shenanigans whenever, but after a prank spiraled out of control they'd kept it exclusively to Mondays. At the end of the day his nerves were still shot, but he was already mentally preparing himself for the next time.

David's second Monday was spent in the quiet room, where those that couldn't function with the chaos went to continue their jobs in relative peace. It was a touch cramped, but it was obvious that most of his co-workers were able to take things in stride. The older members of the staff were apparently responsible for a good chunk of the pranks he'd walked into last week.

Charlie was with him for the entire duration of the thing, the rest of the voice actors either continuing to go about their day while occasionally dodging pranks or actively going after people; some of them brave enough to challenge to toons.

David's third Monday went pretty well all things considered. Sure he lost his shoes to Susie's trapdoor and ended up spilling his chamomile tea when Joey jumped him with a rubber chicken, but his shoes were easily retrieved and Henry scolded Joey for his behavior and got him a new cup. He even got back at the tiny angel with a deceptively simple bucket over the door prank (all the toons praised him for getting into the spirit of things before months had past).

By the fourth Monday, Davide had a feeling he wasn't going to mind this strange tradition.  

. . .

**\+ 1. The toons are to be treated with the utmost respect. Failure to do so will result in an immediate lifelong ban against the offender that may span to involve every other studio worldwide.**

**This is the most sacred law of the studio.**

David was unsure what the commotion was about, but a lot of people were crowding around something, talking over one another. One voice was very clear though.

"You can't fucking do this to me!! Do you fucking retarded asshats know who I am?! I'm the most fucking talented animator in this entire god damn country, and your firing me because I'm not a massive pussy and told those freaks of nature to get the fuck away from me?!" David winced harshly at that comment. He knew the person yelling, one Nathan Brammer. Undeniably talented, but the with the kind of holier-than-thou-peasants attitude few were willing to put up with.

Melissa Damian, flanked by Benny Saint and Hendrick Wolfric, stood tall and deadly in front of the mouthy animator. A deep feeling of wrongness was emanating from the woman, and inky veins were starting to spread through the wooden floor underneath her feet. The fact that they were holding onto the toons wasn't doing anything to lessen the intimidating front they made.

"Nathan Brammer, there are few things that can truly offend the Bendy Draws Studio, but one of the oldest, most sacred rules is that the toons are to be treated as the living creatures they are." at this Melissa reached up to pat the tiny toon perched on her hips, fingers ghosting over the deep bruises and still bleeding cuts on his face. David couldn't hold back a noice of complete and utter disgust. Nathan must've tried to _beat him to death_ for that much damage to show on the toon angel.

"Talented you may be, the studio refuses to deal with those that spit upon the beings that allowed this studio to exist in the first place and assisted the founders, who even now continue to keep their dream alive. Now go pack up your shit and hold your tongue before I decide to have you banned from working on anything worthwhile." With that the trio stalked off, everyone gathered to watch what was happening going back to on their ways. Most of them sneered at the dumbfounded animator.

David didn't feel sorry for him. One of the most consistent things he'd learned during his research was that how someone treating the toons badly was dealt with the exact same way it always was. Only a complete moron would think that the studio would care about them more than the three toons that were the pride and joy of the studio for decades now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can probably tell, I don't know squat about running an animation studio. And yes, the entirety of rule four is a noodle incident. It probably started when someone said something along the lines of monkeying around.


	2. Date?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm back! So sorry I took so long to get this going.

Sammy had been in the real world for little over a day and Henry was happily showing the sheep around. It was then that the great big world outside was brought up.

" **Oh it's absolutely amazing out there! There's this place called the ocean and it's sooo huge, ans salty! And the night sky is absolutely stunning, there's nothing that can compare to the beauty of those small twinkling lights back home."**

Sammy chuckled a bit at the cat's enthusiasm. He should probably be feeling a lot more overwhelmed by everything that had happened in the last few hours, but as long as he had Henry by his side when exploring this strange new world Sammy was a very happy and content sheep indeed.

 **"They sound absolutely wonderful, I'd love to see them. Would you be willing to accompany me? Perhaps we could, make an evening out of it?"** Henry blinked at him, blushing brightly, before old memories started to trickle to the forefront of his thoughts. He leaned in closer to Sammy's face, a small grin hidden behind his paws.

 **"Oh my Sammy, are you perhaps asking me on a date? I had no idea you felt this way.** " The sheep simply chuckled and chuckled softly at the little ritual the two had. He grasped Henry's paw and lifted it up to press a small kiss to the knuckles.

 **"If you'd let me, dear Henry.** " the cat swooned but managed to keep it together, smiling confidently.

**"Well how could I decline such a tantalizing offer? How about tonight, eight p.m. I'll show you one of my favorite places."**

With a simple kiss the two departed. They were barely out of each other's earshot when they ran for it, leaving behind a dust cloud.

. . .

What's Sammy up to?

 

Susie was attempting to catch up on her reading when the door suddenly slammed open hard enough to knock a few things of the shelf.

 **"SusieIneedyourhelpI'vemadeahorriblemistake!!"** The she-devil yelped and fell of the couch in a crumpled heap, greatly startled.

Not very concerned, Sammy stalked into the corner where a bunch of pillows and blankets were piled before flopping onto it, pausing only to bundle up within a quilt. Susie shook her head until the twittering birds disappeared before moving to sit on the couch's arm so she had a good view of the sheep, eye twitching fiercely.

 **"Could you, run that by me again?"** A bunch of grumbles came out from underneath the pile, but Sammy reluctantly poked his head out.

 **"Susie I need your help, I've made a horrible mistake."** The she-devil blinked at him but nodded, her annoyance fading in the face of such a familiar topic. The two of them got along surprisingly well when one considered that they were an overly religious sheep and a literal demon.

**"What's the fuss about this time Sammy?"**

**"I asked Henry out on a fucking date! Why did I do that?!"**  Susie blinked at him, unsure if he was being serious. Realising that he was, she had to bite her lip to keep in the laughter that was threatening to escape her.

**"You do remember you've been dating for years now right?'**

**"Irrelevant. We haven't seen each other for almost ten years! What if he doesn't like me romantically anymore? What of he's realized he can do so much better than the ignorant sheep that lead the witch hunt on his most important people?! Who am I kidding, tomorrow's date is probably when he's going to let me down gently..."**

Sighing, Susie slid off her perch and softly padded over to where Sammy was being a depressed burrito. Gently, she tipped his head to face her before striking him hard across the face.

 **"For the love of everthing good or unholy get it the F#CK together Sammy!"** The sheep blinked at her, completely stunned, but Susie wasn't done with him yet.

 **"Now listen good you stubborn sheep, who exactlty do you think your dealing with again? Henry is many things, but he wouldn't keep something as big as _not liking you anymore_ to himself! Especially since he knows how much that terrifies you. Quite frankly I'm ashamed that you think he would toy with your feelings like that!"** she practically spat out, glaring fiercly.

Slowly, Sammy's tense form loosened and letting out a deep breath he hadn't realised he was holding. He chuckled softly, a fragile sounding thing.

 **"Your right, as usual. Sorry I barged in for nothing."** Susie smirked and tossed some of her hair over her shoulder.

**'Of course I am Sammy. But seriously, do you actually think he hates you, or is that the anxiety talking?"**

Sammy smiled a little before answering her.  **"It's the** **anxiety talking."**

 **"I thought so. Come on Sammy, you don't have to play by their rules anymore. Don't let those idiots ruin more things in your life even when they're not present."** Sammy let out a genuine laugh, smiling wider than before.

**"Gee Susie, how do you always know what to say?"**

**"It's a talent few can cultivate. Now, let's get you ready for your little date shall we?"**

. . .

Let's check on Henry!

 

Joey pauzed in his puzzle when his best friend came in, dragging his feet across the floor before crupling down like a puppet who's strings were cut . Henry let out a small whine before the tiny toon ran to him, worried sick.

**"Why did I do that?? Joey, I'm going to die, I bequeath all my earthly possessions to you and Susie."**

**"What happened? Did that ignorant sheep hurt you!? why I oughta-"**

**"He asked me out and I said yes."**  the cat practically whined, reaching up to pull at his ears.Joey blinked at that statement, confused and more worried than ever.

 **"Henry, don't you like it when he does that though?"** The cat looked up from his faceplant, glaring slightly.

 **"Irrelevant. Joey, he hasn't been here that long, he doesn't know what's happened all these years. Even now I'm a few berries short of a fruitbasket. You know what horrible, awful things I've done, was willing to do.  What is he going to do when he realizes how much of a complete nutcase I've become?!?"** Joey looked down at his miserable best friend before cursing softly under his breath when the cat's breath started to hitch.

 **"Good Lord Almighty I can't believe I'm going to actually say this."** the tiny angel grumbled as he sat down and forced Henry to lie on his back and look up at him.

 **"Henry, as much as I absolutely, positively _hate_ having to say this, you and the sheep make a good couple. Hell, everyone back home should be using you guys as an example of what an actually good and stable relationship is supposed to be like."** Henry was about to protest when Joey slammed his hand on his muzzle, effectively stopping any comments.

**"I'm not done yet. Yes, some God awful things have happened while we were here, but that doesn't matter right now. You know what does matter right now? That you're going to give up on this relationship because of _a maybe_. You're better than that you stupid cat."**

**"But what if this is the straw that broke the camel's back? I don't want him to hate me!"** Joey simply raised an eyebrow at that.

 **"If the sheep decides to judge you for this than he doesn't deserve you. No one is entitled to tell you how to deal with what happened, not even someone you love like Sammy or me."** There was a small hitch in his words before he spoke again.

**"Especially if that someone wasn't even there to see what happened."**

**"C'mon now, let's get you fixed up. Don't want to look like a total mess. Where're you taking him anyway?"** The cat blinked up at Joey as he pulled his hand away, allowing him to finally speak. Slowly, a smile spread across his lips.

**"The forest down west. The stars are beautiful there, especially at the lake."**

**"Of course you're bringing him there. Well let's get started! You're going to leave that sheep speechless, just you wait."** Henry chuckled earnestly as his friend effortlessly pulled him up. 

It was really nice, having a friend like Joey. He always knew he'd never regret giving the Wrong angel a chance.

. . .

 **"Are you sure you have everything?"** the she-devil fussed, digging through the picnic basket they were bringing along. Sammy rolled his eyes while Henry laughed at the antics of one of his closest friends.

**Yes Susie, we'll be fine! We're only going to be gone for four hours at most."**

**"That's four hours to long."** Joey grumbled from the corner he was dry heaving in (he insisted that their public displays of affection where too much for him to stomach).

 **"Don't listen to him, have fun you two. Don't do anything I would~."** this was accompanied with a  _very_ suggestive eyebrow wiggle that had the two of them blushing deeply, deep gray staining almost the entirety of their faces.

The sheep and cat went off, holding paws and whispering softly to one another. Susie sighed a little dreamily as she watched them go.

**"Aren't they the sweetest?"**

**"If you mean nausea inducing, then they sure are."**

**"Jo-jo~"** the tiny angel pouted a bit before answering the unspoken question.

 **"I know, I know! Just because he loves the sheep doesn't mean he loves us less. I know that."** Susie laughed, a nice one for one, and grabbed her brother in nature's hand and started to drag him back inside.

**"C'mon, let's go prank the music department till they get back."**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Henry's and Sammy's relationship is kinda odd, them simultaneously being too different and too similar. But they honest to god love each other and are willing to put in the effort to make it work.
> 
> P.S. Hey brownie! Feel free to drop your two requests either here or on Tumblr, both work for me.


	3. When is one alive?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When asked about their origins, Bendy ponders on the decades long journey he's went through with these characters as he tries to pin down when exactly they came to life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of Brownie's requests, she asked for a flashback to before or during the Ink Machine's construction.
> 
> As expected, it got out of hand really quick. 
> 
> Timeline: the toons have been around for a year at most. No craziness has happened just yet.

**"Mr. Damian!"** Bendy jumped a little, unsure who was still around to call out to him since even Jimmy, the janitor, had already left. He was pretty sure he was the only one still in the studio. Well, except for them.

Pretty quickly all three of his creations rounded the corner, identical looks of curiosity on their faces.

What are you guys still doing up this late? It's almost two in the morning." Susie stepped forward first, slightly stroking her tail.

 **"Well sir, we were looking through some of the more advanced books you've gotten us, and noticed something peculiar. Humans are born due to the effort of their mother and father, but we were born from your concepts, or maybe from the Ink Machine?"** Henry stepped in to keep speaking as Susie's voice drifted into a low mumble.

 **"As you can probably guess, were rather, confused.** **Where** **does that leave us? When did we become alive?"** Bendy blinked at that, stroking his chin. Where did that put them? Did they only become alive when they were created by the Ink Machine, or did they exist long before becoming truly alive was a legitimate option?

"Now that, is a complicated question. How 'bout I answer in the morning? Now march of to bed you guys." All three of them looked rather disappointed but didn't push, each wishing him a goodnight.

Bendy hummed to himself as he properly locked up the place. He had a long night of thinking ahead of him.

. . .

_Did it start when he first created their characters perhaps? Maybe..._

. . .

Bendy (not Benjamin, never Benjamin if he had a say in it) scrubbed furiously at his eyes, desperately praying that the tears would _stop already_.

'Stop it you big baby, they're not coming back. Get over it already!' If only it could be so simple. It'd been six months since his parents had unceremoniously dropped him off here. They'd missed his sixth birthday before he was willing to admit they weren't coming back.

He went back to his scribbles, tongue poking out as he concentrated on not messing up the lines for the face. He was concentrating so hard that he didn't realize someone was looming over him.

"What's wrong _chīsana akuma_?" Bendy jumped and scrambled to hide the papers he'd snuck into his room before remembering who was calling him.

Rumiko, one of the oldest kids currently still living here, simply raised an eyebrow. Bendy liked Rumiko, while undeniably mean she was always watching his back (and ready throw some punches) in case one of the older kids decided to try messing with the little "chink".

"Nothing! I'm fine Rumiko, really." She gave his tear stained face a scrutinizing look before shrugging.

"Let me guess," she started with a smirk. "You snuck some papers again. _Itazurana shōnen_ , what are you drawing so often that you're willing to anger the lady huh?" The teenager effortlessly flopped down next to him and snatched the paper currently in his hand. Rumiko cackled as she pinned him down with her legs, keeping him from getting his drawing back. She roughly ruffled his hair as he squeaked in protest.

Rumiko carefully inspected the childish doodle, immediately spotting the lopsided ring meant to be a halo.

The Wrong angel, a consistent character in Bendy's drawings. Looks like he had attempted to actually draw a neck this time. The drawing still looked like the lovechild of a lumpy potato and a bunch of floppy noodles, but progress was definitely being made.

"Well isn't he dashing! But why do you only draw this one alone? Doesn't he have a friend to play with?" Rumiko almost immediately regretted her words. Bendy was never happy to get nagged into talking about whatever it was that was so wrong about the angel he drew. He always said the exact same thing.

"It's 'cause he's Wrong. He's not right and doesn't deserve to be treated like he is." the tiny child practically spat out, obviously annoyed to have to explain it again.

But still... Maybe she should try, at least this one time.

"But Bendy, he sounds so lonely. Don't you think he'd like a friend?" Bendy gave her a completely, almost comically dumbfounded look.

"Who would become friends with someone like him!?" She didn't commented on the painfully noticable underlying message.

Who would become friends with someone like me.

"It could be someone special, or maybe ordinary. Maybe a kind stranger or someone finally really seeing. But it will always be someone that can see more than where he's wrong." Bendy looked at her, wide-eyed.

With a final ruffle of his hair, Rumiko left the room before someone started to complain.

A loaf of bread Bendy insisted was a cat soon joined the Wrong angel.

Soon after that a weirdly spikey blob was added, apparently a demon.

Long after Rumiko had finally left, years after he'd learned to manipulate those around him until they left him be, Bendy still drew these three nameless characters in numerous styles and manners as his talent grew and expanded with every drawing.

The Wrong angel.

The Ordinary cat.

The Special demon.

A source of comfort for a child that was slowly losing hope he'd find the one that would see him.

(Bendy couldn't help but see them in the kinship he'd found with Boris and Alice. While he insisted otherwise, he was very grateful to have finally found them.)

. . .

_Or does he count from the moment he had actually started working towards bringing them to true life?_

. . .

It had been six months now and still Bendy expected Boris to show up (he was never good at admitting painful truths to himself). He couldn't believe the nerve of him, running straight into a fight he had nothing to do with!

Cursing to himself, Bendy pushed away from his desk. Working like this just made him more agitated, maybe there was something interesting in his arcane texts to distract him. With a soft mutter in Latin a new door suddenly appeared in the office and he left without further stalling. Alice knew how to get in if something truly urgent happened.

He flopped down onto the plush couch next to the fireplace, grabbing a few of his older texts without really paying attention.

He spent the next hour or so completely focused on his reading, only pausing to nibble on the sandwich that had appeared out of nowhere (it was probably Alice's doing. She's been rather worried about him these last few months).

His eyes widened as he got to a previously unread section of one of the oldest books in his collection.

Illusions of life

_In this world there are numerous entities that are not alive but cannot be considered dead. One of the most interesting of these categories are the so called Illusions of Life. An Illusion of Life is strange indeed, capable of true change but oddly static. A good example of these would be the characters of a cartoon show, changing but not, alive but not._

Fascinating.

Alice was definitely going to get mad when she realized she would have to do all the paperwork by herself, but he needed to see what else there was!

Six hours in Alice barged in just as expected, ready to rain hellfire down on Bendy.

She was immensely confused when he pounced her, bodily dragging her to sit down.

"Alice, you're not going to believe what I found while reading one of my newer books!" He immediately showed her the page he was currently on. Knowing that he wouldn't budge until he had worked everything out of his system, she took the offered book and started to read.

Illusions to True life.

_While truly hard to accomplish, it is possible to bring an Illusion of Life into a more real existence. The following are ALL required. Do not attempt this if you are missing even ONE of these components._

_\- true understanding. Attempting to bring forth an Illusion one does not know will undoubtedly end in a horrific phantom creature, and a most definitely very hostile one._

_\- blood of the magick conducting the ritual. NEVER attempt switch after someone else has already started the ritual, no matter what the newcomer will be rejected and destroyed._

_\- a proper binding. Very necessary to allow the transition to go as smoothly as possible (paper for book characters, local cuisine for local legends). Use the Chained Fate ritual to see if your chosen substance will work or get rejected._

_\- an anchoring vessel. The most undoubtedly complex part. This device will function as a continuous spell that protects the Illusions from the laws of our Realm. It can even allow the life given Illusions to do amazing feats, if it is advanced enough to handle such a strain._

_Be warned, there are no room for errors here._

Alice looked up from the ancient text, eyes burning a little from the built in safety spells attacking her. Older books tended to be dangerous to lesser magicks like her.

"And what exactly are you going to do with this information?" Bendy grinned at her before scrambling to get the various loose papers scattered across the floor and couch.

"Picture this Alice. Living, breathing toons! I can do this, I've already have the schematics for the anchoring vessel and I can start the Chained Fate ritual as soon as tomorrow!" he held one of the pieces of paper up for her inspection. It was a messy but detailed blueprint for a highly advanced arcane mechanism with various comments scribble around it (most notably the name, Ink Machine).

"I'm probably going to need to call in some favors, but I think I can manage it just fine."

Alice just looked at the organized mess around her as he kept rambling. This was the most lively she'd seen Bendy in months.

He was always at his best when tackling some impossible obstacle.

"Well then, looks like we're going to bring some toons to life. What do you need me to do?" He blinked at her before grinning widely, dragging her closer to see more of his notes.

Bendy could be absolutely ridiculous, but hey. Alice couldn't help but make an exception for him.

. . .

 _But perhaps he should count from when they were truly alive. When they took their first breaths._  

. . .

Bendy winced a bit as he let a few drops of blood fall onto one of the most advanced pentagrams he'd ever attempted, carved into the hardwood floor underneath the completed Ink Machine's nozzle. Over a year's worth of effort and he was so close to being done. He just needed a bit more ink...

He carefully poured the last of the necessary ink in, careful not to let any of it spill. Asking for the Stars to aid him, he crouched down and poured his magic into the Ink Machine. It roared to life with a low but easily felt sound before its magical signature smoothed out.

This was it. The moment of truth had arrived.

Making a quick sign to Alice, he went to the Ink Machine's control panel.

He carefully increased the ink pressure as the anchoring spells started to reach out.

Suddenly, a steady stream of ink flowed from the nozzle, not a drop getting out of the circle. Bendy could feel his heart starting to pound in his throat as he watched the ink slowly spit into three and start to become more detailed.

It was working.

It was actually working!!

Slowly but surely the blobs of ink started to actually look like his toons seated in a kneeled position. They hadn't shown signs of True life yet, but he definitely wasn't going to miss it.

Sure enough they started. A cat's ear flicking and twitching. A spaded tail moving just barely but noticeably. A halo starting to actually float instead of being held by a string.

And finally.

Henry the cat suddenly squeezed his eyes shut tightly, and when he opened them he truly _saw_ for the first time.

 **"Huh? Where, am I? Who am I?"** the cat asked, blinking owlishly at his surroundings. Angel Joey was quick to start asking questions not long after, Susie Devil Darling practically on his heels.

If Alice noticed the tears streaming down his face, she was nice enough not to ruin the moment for now.

Bendy crouched down to the confused trio, smiling brilliantly despite the tears.

"Hello, welcome to our world. My name is Benjamin Damian, and I'm your Creator."

. . .

Bendy groaned a bit, he wasn't any closer to figuring out the answer the toons wanted! He glared a little at his clock, which informed him it was almost three AM.

'Maybe we'll deal with this in the morning.' and with that decided he went off to bed. He'd have something figured out before he got to work.

They deserved a proper, well thought out answer.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation notes brought to you by Google Translate.  
> chīsana akuma - little devil  
> itazurana shōnen - naughty boy
> 
> My sources (wikipedia) say that chink is a hella, hella offensive term. It's used here to illustrate that Bendy was not well liked in the orphanage he grew up in, I in no way think it's a way to refer to anyone of Asian descent.


End file.
